It is well known in the data processing arts to provide logic in the processor unit for decoding that portion of an instruction referred to as the operation code, or "op code". The op code typically specifies a particular function to be performed by the processor, such as transferring data between registers, accessing memory, adding the contents of two registers, etc.
In the operation of the ordinary processor unit, instructions are accessed sequentially from memory, and the op code decoding logic decodes the op code, so that appropriate logic circuitry in the processor can generate the proper control signals to control the specified processor operation.
There exists a significant need in this technology for ways in which the throughput of the processing unit can be increased.